Three predictions for the future
In our first technology article we wrote about the need for international life companies to embrace digital, and in our second we talked about Friends Provident International and Aviva’s ‘Digital First’ response to this challenge. In this article we look to the future and propose three predictions which we think will revolutionise the international life industry over the next few years.
Prediction one: analytics will focus the industry on customer microsegments, and digital platforms will support mass-customised propositions.
The number of people leading international lives across the globe is increasing; they are leaving a broader range of home countries, to live in a more varied set of host countries. This increased diversity brings a wider set of needs which the industry must meet, if it is to remain relevant and meaningful.
Traditionally the international life industry has used demographic and transactional data to understand customer needs, and industry-wide risk data (such as morbidity and mortality tables) to develop and price insurance products. Lifestyle and behavioural data will provide the industry with actionable insights into identifiable customer microsegments, their needs, and their risks.
The flexibility afforded by digital platforms allows the industry to build tailored propositions, in a manageable and scalable way. Digital documents and communications can be personalised to individual customers, complementing the flexibility of the new platforms.
Therefore, it will become possible to offer mass-customised propositions which solve specific customer needs in a clear and focussed manner. These focussed propositions will make financial services relevant and engaging, as they help customers and their families solve any worries or fears, and achieve their hopes and dreams.
Prediction two: digital solutions will make financial services more accessible and convenient for the expat population.
Customers already expect everything to be online, and the industry must catch up with this expectation. Elegant, mobile-enabled, journeys will allow customers to interact with their products and services whenever, wherever, and however they want. This is particularly important for the expat community.
The industry’s journeys should be beautiful, its user experiences thoughtful, and its tasks straightforward. Together with engaging and informative material, basic functionality will move online making everyday tasks quick and easy.
Rather than replace the service advisers offer, these digital solutions will offer a new way to engage customers, helping them to take a greater interest, monitor investments, and complete simple admin. Advisers will focus on the value-add services, helping customers make the most of their products, and providing solutions to other needs. Therefore, digital will compliment face-to-face advice in a multi-channel business model with more frequent customer engagement.
Prediction three: automation technology will decrease operational costs in the industry, make business easier for advisers, and return more value to customers.
If necessity is the mother of invention, then inefficiency is the father of disruption. Today, inefficient banks are threatened by FinTech startups such as PayPal, who found a more efficient way to do online payments, and TransferWise, who offer a more efficient way to send money overseas. In both cases: inefficiency was solved, costs were reduced, and value was given back to customers.
To avoid disruption from new entrants, the international life insurance industry must therefore embrace automation technology which improves efficiency, solves pain points, and takes costs out of the value chain. Underwriting should be flexible and where possible predictive; decisions should be largely instant, and pricing real time; paperwork should be eliminated, and policy admin should allow self-service.
By using automation technology, we transform the perception of the industry from being too difficult to deal with at times, to one where distributors and customers are willing to interact with the new propositions we create because the process is so easy. At the same time, automating certain tasks, and moving others online, will help the industry manage costs and hand value back to customers through better fees and new benefits.
Creating a digital future
Aviva Group and FPI’s strategy is ‘Digital First’; we are working towards turning these predictions into reality. We have designed new propositions which recognise individual customer needs in an engaging and meaningful way, such as Aviva Poland’s proposition for young, single, professionals in the city. We are building those new propositions based on actionable insight from the research and analytics done by FPI and Aviva. MyAviva makes our products and services more accessible and convenient by bringing everything together onto one digital platform. Automation technology such as the Sales Quotation System in Asia and Aviva Life Protection Solutions in the UK make FPI, Aviva and our partners more efficient, and ensure that value is kept within our propositions. Going forward, the Digital Garage brings small groups of experts together into Agile Scrum Teams to rapidly prototype revolutionary new solutions in these spaces, and test them with advisers and customers.
Friends Provident International and Aviva Group will continue to create targeted, meaningful propositions which are efficient and accessible. The best way to predict the future is to code it.
